NEWS

GIGANTOUR 2013 TOUR LINE-UP AND DATES REVEALED

GIGANTOUR--the critically acclaimed package festival founded in 2005 by MEGADETH’s Dave Mustaine—returns in 2013 with an incredible new line-up for the tour. In addition to headliner MEGADETH, the multi-artist bill features metal heavyweights BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, DEVICE, HELLYEAH, NEWSTED and DEATH DIVISION, all personally picked by MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine.

GIGANTOUR “This year’s power-packed lineup is probably the best Gigantour yet, and we’ve had some pretty massive Gigantours over the years. Gigantour 2013 brings four of my favorite bands, each centered around a superstar. With Zakk, David, Vinnie, and Jason there are going to be fans from Ozzy to Disturbed to Pantera to Metallica and everything that’s metal in-between! Don’t miss the metal festival of the summer!” says Mustaine. He founded the tour in 2005 and over the years has had established artists such as Volbeat, Motorhead, Anthrax, Fear Factory and Dream Theater, as well as giving (then) up-and-coming artists Lacuna Coil, Into Eternity and Sanctity their first break on a national festival tour. GIGANTOUR 2013 continues with this tradition.

GIGANTOUR 2013 will kick off on July 3rd in Gilford, NH and wind its way through North America, hitting cities throughout Canada and the U.S., wrapping on August 11th in Toronto, Canada. Tickets go on sale on May 10th with a special Gigantour pre-sale on May 9th. Check www.gigantour.com for further details.

MEGADETH has also teamed up with Artist Arena (www.artistarena.com) to provide fans with Ultimate VIP packages, including premium tickets, meet and greets, exclusive gifts and more. Go to megadeth.com for all the details.

For a heavy metal band that’s been around for nearly three decades, selling more than 38 million albums worldwide, earning numerous accolades including 11 Grammy® nominations, scoring five consecutive platinum albums—including 1992’s two-million-selling Countdown to Extinction—MEGADETH’s founder, leader and primal guitar-slinger and lyricist Dave Mustaine feels the best is yet to come. They are about to release their 14th studio album titled Super Collider, June 4, 2013, through Mustaine’s new label, Tradecraft, through UMe, just in time for GIGANTOUR 2013.

Mustaine formed Megadeth in Los Angeles in 1983, and with a string of five consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums Megadeth became one of the biggest bands of the mid-’80s and ’90s, boasting such arena anthems as “Symphony of Destruction,” “Peace Sells,” “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due,” and “Sweating Bullets,” along with the top singles in 1997/98 off Cryptic Writings, “Trust,” (No. 1 track) “Almost Honest,” “Use The Man” and “A Secret Place.”

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY (www.blacklabelsociety.com)
For over 20 years Zakk Wylde served as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist, a collaboration that produced a string of multi-platinum albums, including Osbourne’s biggest selling album No More Tears (Wylde wrote all of the music) and Ozzmosis. In 1998, Wylde formed the now legendary BLACK LABEL SOCIETY (BLS), which went on to earn its own fervent fan base (known as the Berzerkers). A limited amount of Black Label Society VIP packages will be available at http://shop.blacklabelsociety.com.

BLACK LABEL SOCIETY is comprised of Zakk Wylde (lead guitar, lead vocals), Nick Catanese (rhythm guitar), John DeServio (bass), and Chad Szeliga (drums). Their eighth studio album, Order Of The Black (2010), featured two singles, “Parade Of The Dead” and “Crazy Horse,” and entered the Billboard 200 at No. 4. With millions of records sold with both Ozzy Osbourne and Black Label Society, Wylde has won nearly every guitar award imaginable, and is a major influence on a new battalion of rock guitarists currently popular today.

DEVICE (www.deviceband.com)
Experimentation remains the best catalyst for progression. Rather than sticking to any pre-existing blueprints or conventions, modern hard rock icon David Draiman of Disturbed and studio collaborator Geno Lenardo [ex-Filter] constructed DEVICE from strands of hard rock, industrial, and electronica.

HELLYEAH (http://hellyeahband.com)
The Dallas, Texas heavy metal supergroup HELLYEAH formed in 2006 and features Mudvayne lead vocalist Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribett, plus Tom Maxell from Nothingface, Bob Zilla from Damageplan and drummer Vinnie Paul from Pantera and Damageplan. Their self-titled debut is a wide-ranging collection of songs including stomping metal, melodic hard rock and fun-loving southern rock and has sold over 350,000 copies. Their follow-up, Stampede, was released in 2010 and debuted at No. 8 on The Billboard 200. Their new album, Band of Brothers, is heavier than anything they’ve done before and more emotionally expressive as well as more sonically reminiscent of the bands’ past groups, Pantera, Damageplan, Mudvayne and Nothingface.

NEWSTED (http://newstedheavymetal.com)
Legendary bassist, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and six-time Grammy-Award winner, Jason Newsted is now fronting his very own band, Newsted. The band's explosive EP, accurately titled, Metal debuted #1 on the iTunes metal chart. Joined by Staind guitarist, Mike Mushok, guitarist Jessie Farnsworth and drummer, Jesus Mendez Jr, Newsted is currently on the road and putting the final touches on a full-length album to be released late this summer.

Newsted will be offering fans a chance to get up close and personal with the Newsted VIP Experience! To be the first to know about tickets and premium VIP packages visit http://newstedheavymetal.com and make sure to sign up for the mailing list.

DEATH DIVISION (https://www.facebook.com/DeathDivision)
DEATH DIVISION is the new heavy metal band out of Hollywood, California, and was founded by bass player Jerry Montano, whose past bands include Danzig, Nothingface, Down & Dirty and tour mates Hellyeah, drummer Tim Yeung who has played with Morbid Angel, Divine Heresy, Hate Eternal and Nile, and features Sean De La Tour on vocals and guitar, and Rick Di Marco on lead guitar. DEATH DIVISION ‘s sound is heavy and intense with a natural sense of melody. Their new single, “I’ve Had Enough,” recently made its debut on Full Metal Jackie and is out now.